To put a child through 15,000 hours of Godless, Christless, Holy Spiritless, no-Bible, non-Christian “education” (K through 12) is sin and ignores what has been said by many of the greatest teachers of the Reformed faith. John Lofton, The American View
Lofton cites Ephesians 6:4 in making this statement. The verse reads, “And, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger; but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (NASB).
Read the full version (link above) to see how quite a few great leaders of our past have felt about this issue.
Rick, what do you feel about this issue? Are you in concurrence(sp?)?
I would have to agree. I’ve felt public school was a terrible idea since pretty much the time I became a Christian.
Yes, “but” – what about families who can neither afford private school alternatives, nor manage the necessary at-home time for home schooling?
That’s rather vague to suggest anything, Bill. I’d have to know why private school couldn’t be afforded — is it because of materialistic living or genuinely insufficient funds? Sacrifices are inherent in raising children — despite there being so many ways to let everyone but yourself raise your children nowadays (television, day cares, public schools, extracurriculars, etc., etc.).
Then I’d have to ask why home schooling isn’t an option; for parents desirous of obeying the Bible, how can they sidestep the direct responsibility of raising their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord? How is it possible to allow others to raise up the child in other ways, rather than the way they should go (i.e., the way of the Lord)?
My final semester of high school was spent in home school, freely administered by my best friends’ parents.
There’s always options, and I’m stretching my imagination to think of a situation where it would be impossible.
I’m not a parent, so I don’t know all of the contingencies, but looking ahead, I would think that whatever it takes to raise a child biblically first and foremost (before academics, sports, or entertainment) would be sacrifices worth making, regardless of circumstance.
For me, I’ve always thought home-schooling was the way to go, and if I do have children, that would be my preferred education type. Sadly, I went to a public school all my life and will probably finish out my junior and senior year of high school in a public educational format.
That is the one thing that I do find tragic about public education. It truly has watered down Christian values and convictions. I have seen many students that are Christian (at least in profession), but they view homosexuality as an okay thing, and they are willing to believe in evolution as a plausible cause for the beginning of humankind (and the world, for that matter). Argh! It aggravates me, sometimes.
Rick, I appreciate you providing a thoughtful response despite the vagueness of my comment. And I think you point out a more general, bigger-picture type view: anytime a parent fails to raise a child according to biblical principles, it’s sin.
I’m just not convinced it’s *always* sin for a believer to enroll a child in a public school. A parent can choose to ignore (at least portions of) his responsibilities and enroll a child in a private Christian school; this too would be sin. Granted these enrollments aren’t two sides of the same coin, but I hope my point is clear. If not, I’ll try to clarify.
Oh I know; a Christian school can be just as much a shirking of responsibilities as can be a public school. And if the simple enrollment of a child in a public school is sin, then such an enrollment anywhere would be sin likewise.
However, if it is the subjugation of the child to Christ-less world views and education which is sin, then the same sin wouldn’t be committed by enrolling them in a Christian school. Indeed, enrollment in the private school may be the parents’ way of ensuring the child is risen in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
At the very least, I think parents — especially fathers — should be more involved in a child’s spiritual well-being.
In my opinion, religion and education should be separated completely. Religious schools should be banned. Secular schools encourage and teach inequality. Sending a child to a religious school removes some of their most basic rights.
“Basic rights” based upon what? “Nonreligious education” is not guaranteed by the Constitution.
I agree with the Constitution Party in that the government should have no part in educating the nation’s children, that raising them and educating them is the parents sole responsibility.